A fresh wave of layoffs is set to hit the United States corporate sector, with Meta, Microsoft and Nike announcing sweeping job cuts and buyouts. The move is expected to eliminate nearly 25,000 roles in a single day as companies seek to restructure their workforce amid the AI boom.
Meta alone plans to cut about 10% of its workforce as it shifts focus toward generative AI. Microsoft will offer voluntary buyouts to several of its employees, while Nike's reductions focus on its technology teams.
Meta Layoffs
Meta plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce. This will impact roughly 8,000 employees of the US tech giant. The layoffs are expected to begin May 20 and the company will also cancel hiring for 6,000 open roles.
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The move is part of its efforts to improve efficiency and focus on generative AI, where it trails top rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic. The latest cuts follow earlier layoffs this year, including around 1,000 jobs in Reality Labs. In March, many teams were also impacted at Facebook, according to CNBC.
Meta also said last month that it would shift away from third-party vendors and contractors, which have historically handled content moderation tasks, in favor of relying on various AI technologies.
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Microsoft Buyouts
Job cuts are picking up across the tech sector with Microsoft also being impacted due to the growing influence of AI. Microsoft confirmed on Thursday that it will offer voluntary buyouts to some US employees, marking a first for the 51-year-old software giant as it navigates the AI boom.
About 7% of its US staff are eligible under a one-time retirement program for employees whose age and years of service total 70 or more. More details about this buyout will be shared on May 7, CNBC reported. The move comes as Microsoft increases spending on AI-focused data centres. As of June 2025, the company had 2,28,000 employees, with 1,25,000 based in the US.
Nike Layoffs
Nike is among the latest companies to have announced about 1,400 layoffs, mainly in its technology division. The move is part of its “Win Now” strategy to drive future growth. The cuts follow 775 job losses earlier this year.
The company said that the move is aimed at reshaping its tech team. In a note from COO Venkatesh Alagirisamy, the company said the layoffs were part of Nike's efforts at streaming supply chain operations, among other things.
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“Collectively, these changes will result in a reduction of approximately 1,400 roles in global operations, with the majority in technology,” Alagirisamy wrote. “These reductions are very hard for the teammates directly affected and for the teams around them, too.”
These layoffs impact staff across North America, Asia and Europe, and account for under 2% of Nike's global workforce, CNBC reported.
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